FEATURED ARTICLES ABOUT BLACK BELT - PAGE 2

Apolo Ladra compares acquiring a black belt in the martial arts to graduating from college.This philosophy could make his prized pupil, Michael Reid, the class valedictorian.Reid, 15, of Severna Park has accumulated nearly 200 trophies since his first competition three years ago.A second-degree black belt in tae kwon do, he's ranked No. 2 nationally in the 15-17 divisionand aspires one day to qualify for the Olympic team.And to thinkhe didn't even like the sport at first sampling, when two visits to the Severna Park YMCA at age 6 left him bored.

To show students that doing well can bring them recognition, the Citizens Advisory Committee of Quarterfield Elementary School has asked The Sun to help publicize its Student of the Week. Winners of the honor must write about themselves.My name is Matthew Robert Mikulsky. I'm 10 years old. I live in Glen Burnie, Maryland. I have two younger brothers, a mom and a dad.I'm a fifth grader at Quarterfield Elementary School. My hobbies are writing comics in my composition notebooks and collecting cards.

It looks like a piece of minimalist art, but those are samples of the seven, ascending achievement belts (white, yellow, orange, green, purple, brown, and black) hanging on one wall of Shotokan Karate Club of Maryland. It takes on average 3 1/2 years to progress from white to first-level black belt. Only about one in 300 students gets that far, according to Farid Amin, who regularly teaches at the club. Karate is a demanding pastime. Those who stick with it say the key is to not become too color- conscious.

A Brooklyn Park man sued a Harundale karate school yesterday for $1 million, charging that a kick from his instructor broke his nose, jaw and cheekbone and forced him to miss a month of work.Joseph Gill Gadow, 32, of the 4900 block of Brookwood Road alleges that Brian Soe, an instructor at Kim's Karate in Harundale Mall "maliciously" kicked him in the face in 1994, causing the injuries.Mr. Gadow, a first-degree black belt, agreed on July 7, 1994, to spar with Mr. Soe, who is a third-degree black belt.

Bernard Joseph Marroney, who owned a bill collection and billing business, died Saturday of heart disease at Upper Chesapeake Medical Center in Bel Air. The Jarrettsville resident was 57. Mr. Marroney was the owner of I.C.S. Financial Services, a business he operated from his home. He earlier had been a manager for Colony Credit in Ferndale. Born in Cervinara, Italy, about 20 miles south of Naples, he was known as Dino and moved to Baltimore as a child. He was a 1964 City College graduate.

Like many other girls her age, Nichole Colley of Glen Burnie gracefully danced ballet, tap and jazz for almost eight years.But unlike other girls, she gave it all up two years ago, to "be like dad" and take up tae kwon do."I wanted to try it because my dad used to fight," said Nichole, 12, a student at Lion Choi's Tae Kwon Do School in Glen Burnie who recently placed second at the Junior National Olympics."Ballet and all that other stuff just started getting in the way so I dropped it," she added.

Each week, we bring you a Q&A with a Ravens player to help you get to know him better. Today's guest is safety Haruki Nakamura, 24, a third-year veteran who grew up in a family of judo champions and played football to forge his own identity in the family. Question: How far back does you family's judo tradition run? Answer: It started with my father [Ryozo]. He was actually being shuffled around the world to teach judo. He came from Japan to the United States in the '60s and ended up being one of the top referees in judo.

A Brooklyn Park man sued a Harundale karate school yesterday for $1 million, charging that a kick from his instructor broke his nose, jaw and cheekbone and forced him to miss a month of work.Joseph Gill Gadow, 32, of the 4900 block of Brookwood Road alleges that Brian Soe, an instructor at Kim's Karate in Harundale Mall "maliciously" kicked him in the face in 1994, causing the injuries.Mr. Gadow, a first-degree black belt, agreed on July 7, 1994, to spar with Mr. Soe, who is a third-degree black belt.

Thelma Banks Cox, HistorianWhen Thelma Banks Cox retired from the Baltimore City school system eight years ago, she could have basked in her accomplishments: ascending from teacher to assistant superintendent, serving on the State Board of Higher Education, being the first black president of the Girl Scouts of Central Maryland.Instead, she decided to pursue a lifelong interest -- local black history.Two years ago, Dr. Cox formed the African-American Heritage Society and, with the help of 105 members, has created self-guided tours of black landmarks in Baltimore, researched the 36 city schools named for famous blacks and chronicled these findings in two pamphlets.

Students from an Ellicott City karate school encountered the biggest barrier imaginable -- fighting an undefeated team on their own turf -- while competing in their first tournament.The local students lost the match against the Okinawa champions by only two points, but won fifth place in the world tournament in Japan in August.For instructor Jim Lilley, the contest was a chance to renew his ties with the island expert who taught him traditional Japanese karate more than three decades ago, Takeshi Miyagi.